WHEN DID THE CHURCH CANONIZE THE NEW TESTAMENT?

Did the canonization of the New Testament have to wait until the 4^th century when the 27 books of the New Testament were approved by a church council? According to Norman L. Geisler and William E. Nix, the canonization process started immediately. One indication of this are the authoritative citations from these 27 books by the Church Fathers:

·       By the end of the first century some fourteen books of the New Testament were cited. By A.D. 110 there were nineteen books recognized by citation. And within another forty years (A.D. 150) some twenty-four New Testament books were acknowledged. Before the century ended, which is about one hundred years after the New Testament was written, twenty-six books were cited.

·       Not only did the early Fathers cite all twenty-seven books of the New Testament, they also quoted virtually all of the verses in all of these twenty-seven books. (From God to us: How we Got our Bible, 157)

Other indications of an early canonization process were the early lists and manuscripts containing the approved New Testament books.

DOUBTS ABOUT OURSELVES

How are we to regard ourselves and our churches? The Bible teaches that we are new creations, and the old things have passed away (2 Corinthians 5:17). However, we see something very different when we look closely at the church and even ourselves. We find that the old things are still with us.

We are therefore prone to conclude that there is something wrong somewhere – either with us or with the teachings of the Bible. This is where it is important to widen our Biblical horizons. For one thing, the Bible’s teachings that we are new creations only pertains to half of us, our spirit self and not our fleshly self, which remains unredeemed and opposed to our spirit (Romans 7; Galatians 5:17).

We are only halfway home. We are still awaiting our final adoption and redemption:
 

·       And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. (Romans 8:23-24; ESV)

Even if we are only halfway home, it still seems that we are less spiritual than others, right? Given the circumstances, this is to be expected. This is because God has chosen the “losers”:

·       But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

Consequently, we are not all starting from the same place. To make matters “worse,” God is chastening us, and this brings out our worst, like melting ore in a cauldron as the impurities surface:

·       For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the Gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17)

We are under reconstruction, and construction sites do not look pretty. So too, we are not going to look good, even to ourselves, as we see all of our repressed impurities coming to the surface through the fire of trials.

We judge what we see, but should we? We only see the outer man, as God had corrected the Prophet Samuel, as he was about to anoint the wrong person to be king over Israel (1 Samuel 16:7). Instead, we are instructed to not regard others in a superficial way:

·       From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. (2 Corinthians 5:16)

We are truly new creations in Christ, members of the Body of Christ. We are already seated in heavenly places in Jesus (Ephesians 2:6) and have begun to share in His nature (2 Peter 1:4).

But what evidence do we have of this in light of the fact that we look like others and maybe even a step down? Jesus taught that a good redeemed tree bears good fruit (Matthew 7:17-18), but how can this be, seeing that we are struggling against sins we never knew we had?

Well, that’s part of the point. Our eyes have been opened to sin, those things that we had denied. This means that we are no longer blinded and dominated by sin. In this sense, we have been set free from sin (Romans 6:7, 18; 2 Corinthians 2:25-26). And when we fall into sin, we learn to confess our sin to find freedom and absolution (1 John 1:9).

This process humbles and empties us so that God can gradually fill us. But it is a process:

·       So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

This means that we must see Christ in our brethren even when we see them as a toxic dump. Jesus told a parable that illustrates the fact that we are bound up in Christ and part of His household:

·       “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:34-40)

Who are we? We are buried in Christ, and it is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us (Galatians 2:20).

ENEMY TESTIMONY AND HOW IT SERVES TO AUTHENTICATE THE NEW TESTAMENT

Testimony offered against the interests of the testifier is as highly regarded as deathbed confessions. In contrast, Bill Clinton’s autobiography had been panned by the critics because his testimony was deemed to be self-serving. He only confessed what everyone already knew – his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Likewise, it is expected that Orthodox Jews will justify their rejection of Jesus. However, when they admit the existence of evidence contrary to their position, this evidence carries more weight than if this disclosure had supported their position. Let’s look at several interesting instances of this.

In “Why the Jews Rejected Jesus,” Orthodox Jewish scholar, David Klinghoffer, admitted:

• "The Talmud states that from forty years before the Temple's destruction and onward, there were supernatural omens of the disaster to come--that is, starting from the inception of the Christian religion following the death of Jesus. The eternal fire of the Temple altar would not stay lit. The monumental bronze Temple gates opened by themselves. Josephus confirms the Talmud's account of the inner Sanctuary's east gate and its mysterious openings. He adds other portents from these years: a bright light shinning around the altar and the Sanctuary at three in the morning, a cow brought for sacrifice giving birth to a lamb, apparitions of chariots and armies flying through the sky above the whole land of Israel." (pg. 117)
  
  

The openings of the “inner Sanctuary’s east gate” would have been interpreted by the Jews of Jesus’ day to mean that God was vacating His Sanctuary, leaving it defenseless (Ezekiel 8:6, 18-19). “The eternal fire of the Temple” that wouldn’t stay lit conveyed a similar message. It was supposed to always be burning (Exodus 27:20) and represented the presence of God (1 Samuel 1:3). The fact that it wouldn’t stay lit seemingly represented God’s sign that He was leaving the Temple to its destruction. Of course, the apparitions in the sky represented the returning Roman army.

The Jerusalem Talmud substantiates the above account taken from the Babylonian Talmud:

·       ''Said Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai to the Temple, 'O Temple, why do you frighten us? We know that you will end up destroyed. For it has been said, 'Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.''' (Sota 6:3)

·       "Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open" (Jacob Neusner, The Yerushalmi, p.156-157).

Amazingly, after the Crucifixion (cir. 30 AD) and for the next 40 years until the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, Israel had been drenched by a series of miraculous omens pointing ominously to their future destruction.

Earnest Martin has commented about the Temple lamps:

·       ''In fact, we are told in the Talmud that at dusk the lamps that were unlit in the daytime (the middle four lamps remained unlit, while the two eastern lamps normally stayed lit during the day) were to be re-lit from the flames of the western lamp (which was a lamp that was supposed to stay lit all the time — it was like the 'eternal' flame that we see today in some national monuments) . . .

·       ''This 'western lamp' was to be kept lit at all times. For that reason, the priests kept extra reservoirs of olive oil and other implements in ready supply to make sure that the 'western lamp' (under all circumstances) would stay lit. But what happened in the forty years from the very year Messiah said the physical Temple would be destroyed? Every night for forty years the western lamp went out, and this in spite of the priests each evening preparing in a special way the western lamp so that it would remain constantly burning all night!'' (The Significance of the Year CE 30, Ernest Martin, Research Update, April 1994, p.4).

Why would Jewish sources trying to debunk Christianity make such an incredible admission? Klinghoffer tried to interpret the miraculous events as omens directed against the Jewish believers in Christ: "Was God not warning the people of the disastrous course some [the Jewish Christians] had set out upon?"

However, the Christians had fled to safety across the Jordan to Pella! According to Klinghoffer, it was the Christians who should have been penalized for their heresy. However, it was the Jews who didn’t believe in Christ, who were left to pay the price.

What is even more unbelievable about Klinghoffer’s explanation is the timing of the omens. They began, according to Klinghoffer, at approximately the time of the Crucifixion (30 AD) and lasted for forty years until the destruction of the Temple. They therefore served as a warning to those who had crucified Jesus to repent, not to those who had followed Jesus.

And when did the omens end? After the great slaughter of the Jews and destruction of their Temple! This had nothing to do with any divine displeasure with the Jewish believers in Christ. Had the omens been sent because of God’s displeasure with Jesus, they would have ended at the Cross. However, it was at this time that the omens of doom began, presumably because Israel had rejected their Messiah and then refused to repent.

Klinghoffer asserts that the warnings were directed towards the Jewish Christians who had gone astray. However, if this had been the case, calamity should have fallen on them. Instead, it fell upon the nation of Israel. Why? Israel had refused to repent of their sins and seek God’s mercy, as Jesus had warned:

• "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate.” (Matthew 23:37-38)

Another interesting example comes from the Talmud. For many years prior to the Cross, during the celebration of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the sins of Israel were confessed upon the head of the Scapegoat who was then lead away into the wilderness, symbolizing the fact that God had taken away Israel’s sins.

However, this ritual was attended by a great miracle. A red died woolen skin was attached to the head of the Scapegoat, which miraculously would turn white in front of the great masses of Israel. They understood that this symbolized the fact that God had removed their sins. (Isaiah 1:18).

In his response to the question, “Why didn’t the red ribbon on the head of the Scapegoat [on Yom Kippur] turn white in 30 AD?” Jewish anti-Christian apologist, Rabbi Tovia Singer, reluctantly admits:

·       “In Tractate Yoma 39b, the Talmud… discusses numerous remarkable phenomena that occurred in the Temple during the Yom Kippur service… There was a strip of scarlet-dyed wool tied to the head of the scapegoat which would turn white in the presence of the large crowd gathered at the Temple on the Day of Atonement. The Jewish people perceived this miraculous transformation as a heavenly sign that their sins were forgiven. The Talmud relates, however, that 40 years before the destruction of the second Temple [approximately 30 AD at the time of the Crucifixion] the scarlet colored strip of wool did not turn white.”

This is a damning admission. Following the Crucifixion, the scarlet wool would no longer miraculously become white! It seems that God had put Israel on notice that He would no longer accept animal sacrifices now that the ultimate offering of Jesus had been accomplished.

How does Singer explain this cessation at the very time of the Cross? He claims that various miracles were gradually disappearing because Israel’s “dedication to the golden rule slacked off.” However, the timing of this cessation couldn’t have been worse for the Jews who had rejected their one Hope, even in the light of so many miraculous signs that had validated the Person of Jesus.

Singer also insists that God had been angry with Jesus for deceiving Israel. However, if so, we’d have expected Him to grant signs of His approval of the Crucifixion, instead of a sign of disapproval — that He no longer honored the scapegoat to take away Israel’s sins. God’s timing couldn’t have been worse for Singer!

One Final Example: Did Jesus perform many miracles? If so, the miracles would validate His claims, and His detractors would have to offer alternative explanations or deny them altogether. However, they did not deny His miracles but instead ascribed them to black magic and Satan (Matthew 12). This is exactly what we find in many of the Talmudic writings:

• Shabbath 104b, p.504 "Jesus was a MAGICIAN and a fool. Mary was an adulteress".

• Sanhedrin 107B of the Babylonian Talmud: "Jesus... stood up a brick to symbolize an idol and bowed down to it. Jesus performed MAGIC and incited the people of Israel and led them astray."

• Sanhedrin 43A: "On Passover Eve they hanged Jesus of Nazareth. He practiced SORCERY, incited and led Israel astray...Was Jesus of Nazareth deserving of a search for an argument in his favor? He was an enticer and the Torah says, 'You shall not spare, nor shall you conceal him!"

Josephus, (Antiquities (90 AD), XVIII 3.2):

• About this time arose Jesus, a wise man, who did good deeds and whose virtues were recognized. And many Jews and people of other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and to die. However, those who became his disciples preached his doctrine. They related that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that he was alive. Perhaps he was the Messiah in connection with whom the prophets foretold WONDERS.

According to The Jewish Encyclopedia, Jesus was often accused by the Talmudists of performing magic:

• “It is the tendency of all these sources to belittle the person of Jesus by ascribing to him illegitimate birth, MAGIC, and a shameful death …

• “Magic may have been ascribed him over against the miracles recorded in the Gospels.”

•  “Toledot Jesu”: “When Jesus was expelled from the circle of scholars, he is said to have returned secretly from Galilee to Jerusalem, where he inserted a parchment containing the “declared name of God” (“Shem ha-Meforash”), which was guarded in the Temple, into his skin, carried it away, and then, taking it out of his skin, he performed his MIRACLES by its means. This magic formula then had to be recovered from him, and Judah the Gardener (a personage of the “Toledot” corresponding to Judas Iscariot) offered to do it; he and Jesus then engaged in an aerial battle (borrowed from the legend of SIMON MAGUS), in which Judah remained victor and Jesus fled.”

While these sources (except for Josephus) demean Jesus, they still acknowledge that He had performed miracles. This is remarkable, because it would have been easier to deny that the miracles had ever taken place. Evidently, they were not able to do this without being derided by the many who knew that He was a miracle worker.

But could He have been evil and used black magic, as the Jewish sources allege? Evidently, if they could have proved this allegation, their trial of Jewish would have been easy. However, they were unable to find witnesses to validate their claims.

His miracles not only stand as facts, but they also testify in favor of His teachings and the New Testament claims.

EVIL IS MORE THAN JUST IGNORANCE

Wisdom is more than just study and acquiring knowledge. Instead, we are often culpably ignorant. We just don’t want to see, especially discomforting things about ourselves. However, Stoic Philosopher and atheist, Maximo Pigliucci, believes that the ultimate evil is ignorance, rather than the will, which chooses ignorance:

·       The notion is Socratic in nature, and it is found, for instance, in this famous phrase, which Diogenes Laertius attributes to the most famous Athenian philosopher: “There is only one good, knowledge, and only one evil, ignorance.” (Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers, II.31) https://howtobeastoic.wordpress.com/2017/11/27/do-people-commit-evil-out-of-ignorance/

·       So what Socrates and Epictetus maintain here is that the best someone can do is to achieve understanding of how things work (and therefore of how to act in life), while the worst is being unwise, and therefore engage in actions that one mistakenly, as it turns out, thinks are right.

A heart that plans evil lies outside of Pigliucci’s considerations. Consequently, he cites Epictetus affirmatively:

·       “What is the reason that we assent to a thing? Because it seems to us that it is so. It is impossible that we shall assent to that which seems not to be. Why? Because this is the nature of the mind — to agree to what is true, and disagree with what is false, and withhold judgment on what is doubtful. … Feel now, if you can, that it is night. It is impossible. Put away the feeling that it is day. It is impossible. … When a man assents, then, to what is false, know that he had no wish to assent to the false: ‘for no soul is robbed of the truth with its own consent,’ as Plato says, but the false seemed to him true.” (Discourses, I.28)

“…he had no wish to assent to the false?”  According to this analysis, we do wrong because we are ignorant and need further education and not because we culpably reject the truth and choose deception. In fact, there is a massive amount of evidence that we are willfully ignorant, especially about ourselves. Self-delusion seems to be the rule. One representative study reported:

·       “In one study of nearly a million high school seniors, 70 percent said they had “above average leadership skills, but only 2 percent felt their leadership skills were below average.” Another study found that 94 percent of college professors think they do above average work. And in another study, ‘when doctors diagnosed their patients as having pneumonia, predictions made with 88 percent confidence turned out to be right only 20 percent of the time.’” (Abcnews.go.com; “Self-images Often Erroneously Inflated,” 11/9/05)

Many such studies demonstrate that self-delusion is pervasive. Although we have the inner resources for self-knowledge, we seem to lack the willingness to make use of them. In “Positive Illusions,” psychologist Shelley Taylor sums up the evidence:

·       “Normal people exaggerate how competent and well liked they are. Depressed people do not. Normal people remember their past behavior with a rosy glow. Depressed people are more even-handed…On virtually every point on which normal people show enhanced self-regard, illusions of control, and unrealistic visions of the future, depressed people fail to show the same biases.” (214)

This demonstrates that these “self-enhancing biases and illusions” are entirely human and serve to explain why we flee from self-knowledge into ignorance and denial. We are simply addicted to the pleasure of having an inflated self-esteem, and we will reject anything that might threaten our self-chosen addiction.

This problem doesn’t arise out of ignorance but a willful rejection of truth and wisdom:

·       “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you. Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof…[the ignorant] are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them. (Proverbs 1:22-25, 32)

Ignorance is often culpable. It is like the child who covers his ears and cries, “I don’t want to hear it.” Consequently, this kind of “ignorance” exacts its price. It will also eventually alienate us from others:

·       All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. (Proverbs 16:2)

However, Pigliucci concludes with a rhetorical question:

·       What do we gain by curing ourselves of amathia [ignorance], and moreover by recognizing that people who do bad things are not “evil,” but rather sick? A lot, as it turns out.

If there is no evil, there is no injustice. If no injustice, there is no justice or any meaningful protections of the innocent against the guilty—a perfect prescription for social chaos, vigilantism, and decay.

WHY THE BIBLE IS SO PRECIOUS TO ME

Some say that Christ doesn’t make a difference – that Christians act the same way as others and that Christ doesn’t change lives. However, I know otherwise!

I have found that the Bible contains transforming and empowering wisdom, a wisdom that has brought me all sorts of blessings. For example, anger and hatred are tyrants that override reason and even self-interest. Yet, I know that hatred is wrong. I even know that it torments its prey. Nevertheless, it consumed me, as I watched powerlessly against it. Even its “arguments” were persuasive. They felt so right. Hatred placed its own lens over my eyes, and I saw only red.

However, I remembered the Word of God:

·       Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good… Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them… Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9, 14, 16-21; ESV)

His Word came upon me with such force and conviction that it drove the hatred away, the bully yelping helplessly as it fled. Instead, I was left rejoicing at the great privilege to love others and to “overcome evil with good.”

No wonder Scripture informs us that loving God is about embracing and obeying His teachings:

·       If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:10-14)

Keeping His teachings is our cure, our protective shield and the source of blessings. It even rescues us from destruction:

·       Only be strong and very courageous [Joshua], being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:7-8)

No wonder that we are instructed to “meditate on it day and night.”

I am a man of many flaws, and they can be deeply troubling. However, I have learned something of even greater significance – that our Lord brings strength out of our ongoing weaknesses, as Paul had learned:

·       Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this [affliction], that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:8-10)

I too have learned to boast in my weaknesses. They continue to humble me, tromping down my pride, drawing me closer to my Savior through His Word, which ministers so powerfully to me, through His blessed Spirit.

All of this has been made possible by the wisdom of the Living Word of God. Its wisdom has provided me with exactly what I had needed. Here are just a few more examples.

I am always second-guessing myself, wondering, “Did I say the right thing? ...Did I say it with the wrong motives? … Could I have said it more effectively?” Although this perfectionistic preoccupation can promote self-improvement, it can also drive us crazy. I needed to lay it aside before it laid me out, and the Holy Spirit did this for me through applying Scripture to my life:

• I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

What a relief! My failures were no longer my own. They belonged to my Savior who promised that He would work all things for my good (Rom. 8:28), even my worst failures and nightmares, my worst humiliations! I was now free to fail. Not that failures no longer hurt, but I now know who will lift me out of my discouragement (1 Cor. 10:12-13), and He has proved this to me repeatedly. Consequently, Biblical truth allows me to constructively face my challenges without being overwhelmed by them.

We are also self-obsessed with questions of our goodness and worthiness. One of the greatest threats to our psychological well-being is the dread of not being worthy. This might take the form of a deep and abiding sense of shame, insecurity, or inadequacy. We might worry that we are not even worthy of God. Therefore, it is such a relief to realize that none of us are worthy. We are all sinners who need the Savior:

• "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12)

This had certainly been true of me. Even though I attempted to suppress this truth of my moral inadequacy before God, it would continue to resurface to my great shame. I tried to beat back the ugly truth with self-assertions that I was really a good and loving person. I was engaged in a costly war with myself, and the result was desperation and depression.

Instead of deriving my sense of worthiness or adequacy from myself, I needed to find it from another source, and Scripture informed me that Jesus is that source:

• God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)

I could begin to accept the fact that I am entirely unworthy, because, in the eyes of my Savior, I am now entirely righteous. I could now face the once-shaming truths about myself and take responsibility for my behavior, because I have been assured of my ultimate worth before Him!

My wife can now charge me with being insensitive, and I can readily apologize. We’re restored! Others can regard me negatively, but that’s okay because I am now defined, not by what others might think, but by what my Savior thinks. Yes, it still hurts, but it no longer devastates.

For the longest time, I had been feeling condemned. Even after Christ came into my life, I still had that sense. My feelings were so forceful that everything else – even Scripture – appeared as merely hollow words in comparison. I felt that even God condemned me! Finally, however, Scripture broke through, took hold of my self-contempt and torn it apart, like a lion tearing apart red meat. What a consolation it has been to learn that:

• Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

This taught me conclusively that my feelings of condemnation and rejection had nothing to do with God rejecting me, but just my own aberrant reactions! I could now laugh at these once terrifying feelings, knowing that they have nothing to do with my ultimate status! It’s like receiving a letter saying that there has been a warrant issued for your arrest. However, upon reading it more closely, you find that the letter is actually addressed to someone else.

Many say, “Well, I’m glad Christ worked for you, but many find consolation through psychotherapy.” It didn’t work for me. I had seen five highly recommended psychologists, and each left me worse off than I was before.

Yes, they all affirmed that I was “okay,” even superior, but I could never believe them, at least, not at the core of my being. I knew what my feelings were telling me, and they talked with a greater authority than the psychologists. I just knew I wasn’t “okay.”

Their affirmations rolled off my back as if it was made of Teflon. Perhaps this was because I had been giving myself false affirmations all my life. I told myself I was the greatest but actually felt that I was the least. After a while, these affirmations became no more than an addiction. I needed them but got little out of them. However, having believed them – and this distorted my thinking and perceptions - they alienated me from reality, wisdom, and honest relationship. Because I perceived the world through my distorted self-affirmations, I also regarded others through this grid. They were either superior or inferior to me. If they were seen as “superior,” I resented them. If “inferior,” I disdained them.

However, these affirmations bore little resemblance to reality, while I subsequently found that the Biblical affirmations brought me in touch with a deeper reality. Now, perceiving myself as an object of God’s mercy, I began to regard others with mercy.

Besides, our sense of okay-ness requires more than the affirmation of other people. They all say different things, and every experience - every success and every failure – sings a different song. Which was I to believe? Therefore, to base my worth on either the opinions of others or on my socially approved accomplishments meant that my worth was like the stock market – booming, crashing, and the cause of constant instability and insecurity.

Besides, if my well-being depended on the opinions of others, I would resent them when they failed to project the “right” opinions of me. This would also place enormous pressure on them.

Not only does Scripture tell us what to believe, it tells us what to avoid. It is not simply that certain acts are regarded as “sin.” These acts also destroy. Sin is worse than eating junk food. The latter just destroys the body. Sin destroys everything about us. It contaminates our thinking and passions (Rom. 1:21-32). For one thing, as a result of sin, we carry around unresolved guilt and shame. We even project our shame and self-contempt on others, convinced that others regard us in the same way we feel about ourselves. However, Scripture relieves us of these blinding burdens:

• If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1 John 1:9-10)

Instead, we often try to cover over this problem with a variety of palliatives – successes, sex, drugs, popularity. However, there is nothing that gives the relief and cleansing the way that confession does.

What makes the affirmations of Scripture so powerful – so life transforming? For one thing, they illuminate what had been shadowy and confusing. In the hand of the Holy Spirit, Scripture tore me down so it could build me up on a solid foundation. It penetrated the blind spots created by my defensive mechanisms.

Once I began to understand myself in the light of Scripture, I found that I began to understand others. With the assurance of God’s love and forgiveness, I could begin to face myself. As I saw my needs and insecurities – I had previously run from these and denied them – I could also see those of other people. As I began to face my denials and rationalizations, I began to understand the same defensive maneuverings I saw in others. As I received God’s compassion for me, I could more readily extend it to others.

While Scripture is foolishness and contemptible to the one whose eyes haven’t been opened (1 Cor. 2:14), it is the scalpel in the hand of the Holy Spirit. It cuts deeply to remove malignant tumors (Heb. 4:12) – attitudes and ideas that fail to accord with holiness. Such cuts are always painful (Heb. 12:5-11), but they identify and remove cancers that threaten well-being. They expose jealousy. However, they also provide the perfect antidote:

• All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours. (1 Cor. 3:21-22)

In light of God’s assurances that He wants to eternally give us the world, jealousy had to take a back seat. And I had been jealous, even of the spiritual successes of others, convinced that they would receive heavenly reward and recognition, and I wouldn’t. However, Scripture assures us that all of God’s people are one, and “all things” would be ours. We have become joint heirs with our Savior (Rom. 8:17).

This is just what I needed to know. This truth stomped all the vitality out of my jealousy. I now rejoice as others rejoice!

Through the Scriptures, I have even come to know my Savior in a more personal way. On top of my decades of serious depression, I began to experience panic attacks. These left me utterly devastated. I was so tormented that I could barely carry on a conversation or even read the Bible. I could hardly make it through the day, and to believe that God loved me was beyond my grasp.

However, despite my profound doubts, I had no other place to turn. So I would continue to make feeble attempts at prayer and Bible reading. But even when I succeeded at reading the Bible, I could only understand the simplest statements.

Nevertheless, on numerous occasions, God spoke to me. For example, on one occasion, while reading the phrase, “And God heard him,” a light exploded upon my tormented mind. The depression and panic were instantly driven away. I looked for them, but they were nowhere to be found.

Nonetheless, they returned on the following day, but something had changed. I knew that God had also heard me and that He would keep on hearing me! I therefore knew that I was in His hands, despite my pathetic situation.

The Lord continued to reveal Himself to me in this manner over the next year, but these transformative experiences ceased entirely 35 years ago. I wish I could say that I had mastered the technique to bring on these electrifying encounters, but there is no technique for them, just the sovereign all-knowing workings of my Savior.

Indeed, the Lord continues to speak to me through His Word, but not in such a dramatic way. Why not? He prefers us to walk by faith and not by sight or by miraculous visitations (2 Corinthians 5:7), and I now trust that He knows what is best for us.

Westerners have invented a new god, a god who is non-judgmental and non-punitive. Momentarily, this god might feel comfortable. However, once we have suffered victimization, our thoughts turn to justice, even revenge. Therefore, it is so liberating to know that we have a God who cares deeply about justice:

• If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink” [ Proverbs 25]…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:18-21)

It is only because we have the assurance that God will bring justice (also through the legal systems He has ordained – Rom. 13:1-4) that we can devote ourselves to love. It is also because we know the undeserved love of God for us! Without this knowledge, revenge would become a way of life.

When I read about the estimated 170,000 Christians being murdered yearly simply because they are Christians, I want to grab a machine gun or suicide belt and right the wrongs. But my Lord informs me that He has a better way. He’ll deal with it! Instead, I should pray, love my enemies, and address the wrongs with righteous means. How liberating and personally enhancing!

This represents just a small sampling of the ways that God and His truth have infiltrated to bring us new life. Volumes can be written on this subject. Jesus had taught:

• "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)

Not only has He set us free from sin and its various penalties, He has also set us free from so many things that have kept us in prison – fears, lusts, rationalizations, denials, addiction to self-affirmations, and many forms of self-deceptions.

From where does such wisdom come? I have become convinced that it must come from God through His Word.